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Mr. President,
In the past several months, we have seen both positive and negative developments in regard to Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority has ratified more than a dozen major international treaties and conventions, including the Geneva Conventions, Convention Against Torture and the Convention on the Law of the Sea. What’s more, The UN has accepted Palestinian ratification of these treaties. Palestine is poised to become a member of the International Criminal Court in April this year.
Sweden recognized Palestine. The British, Irish, Spanish and French Parliaments voted for Palestinian Statehood. This has created a compelling case for Palestine’s integration as a fully independent State in the international community.
These developments are a writing on the wall. And yet surprisingly, this Council failed to pass a resolution which merely asked for endorsement of universally agreed parameters - recognition of Palestinian Statehood, Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem, a three year deadline to end occupation of West Bank and lifting of the siege of Gaza. The resolution foundered on dictates of realpolitik. Otherwise there was a strong justification for its adoption.
Absence of engagement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, a constant state of fear and animosity between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and continuing violations of the Palestinians’ rights do not constitute a state of limbo but a very precarious and perilous situation. Violence and conflict can erupt any moment.
The Secretary General, speaking at the General Assembly last week, said “We must not resign ourselves to any further worsening of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians”.
Diplomatic efforts have become tenuous and do not seem to promise either re-engagement between the parties or a solution. The efforts being made by the US Secretary of State John Kerry, the one track that gave some hope, seem to have lost momentum.
Diplomacy must be re-energized and intensified. Some members of this Council had said in December last year that they might reconsider the issue of Palestine in 2015. The Palestinian Authority is considering bringing the parameters resolution to the Council again. We would encourage Council members to work on such a resolution, which could pave the way to a clearly marked pathway to peace. It would put the Council back at the helm of maintaining peace and security in the Middle East.
A fresh push towards peace is urgently needed. Some steps that could help are:
Israel should immediately release the withheld tax revenues.
Blockade of Gaza should be lifted.
Pledges of reconstruction of Gaza should be honored by contributors and donors.
International efforts to resume the peace process, based on internationally agreed parameters, should be reinitiated.
No matter what we say, Palestine and Israel have a symbiotic relationship. They will have to co-exist for generations to come in the same geographical neighborhood. Therefore, the only path to a viable and sustainable peace is the establishment of the State of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, and vacation of all Arab lands by Israel, including the Syrian Golan.
Mr. President,
For the fourth year running, the last year was the deadliest in Syria. This progressive deterioration must be halted. We fully support Secretary General's Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura’s efforts to arrange localized ceasefires and initiate a political process. Last year saw the destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons programme. This demonstrated what could be accomplished when this Council was united.
Our experience of the last four years shows that there are no shortcuts to peace in Syria; that military means and killing sprees would not produce a solution; and that intense and result oriented diplomatic engagement was the only option we had for pursuing and delivering peace.
In the past one year, the civil war in Syria and the fragile peace in Iraq has produced an even bigger monster – the ISIL. The world was caught unawares. Now the poisonous philosophy of this hydra-headed monster is spreading to other parts of the world.
Pakistan unequivocally condemns terrorism perpetrated by ISIL against states and individuals and rejects the notion of the so-called caliphate by ISIL. Pakistan is fully implementing UN Security Council Resolutions 2170 and 2178 in letter and spirit. We must together stop this tide to save our global civilization.
Finally,I participated, as a Council member, in the debate on the Middle East in late 2012. The atmosphere was one of bewilderment, self-flagellation and helplessness. Two years down the road, as I prepare to leave the post, nothing has changed. Palestine was an issue 100 years ago. It is still a vexing issue that keeps the entire international community hostage. This historic impasse must be broken through enlightened and resolute diplomacy.
I thank you.
Thank you.